Every Step of the Way
by Packersfan12
Summary: It's a normal day around the department, until Jay Halstead finds himself fighting to stop a woman from jumping to her death. While doing so, he finds that she is in deep with the wrong people and vows to help keep her safe and return to a normal life. What he doesn't know, is that when she meant in deep, she meant IN DEEP. Halstead/O.C. (But still I ship LINSTEAD so hard!)
1. Chapter 1

It was supposed to be just a normal day, maybe a few drug busts with kicking in doors being involved, but nothing major. Most of the time Jay sat at his desk counting the dots on the ceiling, or engaged in an epic chair-spinning battle with Antonio, but there were occasional days where things heated up, and those occasional days were becoming more frequent.

It was when Jay and Erin were out getting a bite to eat, that someone screamed and pointed up. Jay followed their raised arm and saw someone standing on the tenth story of a twenty story hotel. He dropped his coffee and jogged across the street, dodging oncoming cars, and rushed into the building. Outside a crowd of people were gathered on the street, and Erin was quickly phoning the department.

"What's going on out there?" The woman at the front desk asked, standing when he entered.

Jay ignored her question and started pounding up the stairs, taking them three at a time. On the tenth floor, he burst into the hallway, startling a couple unlocking their door. "Hey," Jay called to them, "I need you to exit the building."

"Says who?" The woman asked, throwing her blonde curls over her shoulder and gave him a defiant look.

"The Chicago Police Department, I'll gladly give you a ride down there after I'm done if you want." Jay said, flashing his badge at them.

The woman rolled her eyes and stood in her place, but her boyfriend drug her toward the elevator, trying to talk her into leaving.

Erin pushed her way into the hallway just as Jay tried the door to the hotel room where the person had been standing on the ledge. "Backup's on the way."

"Door's locked." Jay said, and then knocked, "Hey anyone there?"

"Go away!" A faint voice said.

"Hey, just let us into the room." Erin called.

"I know what you're trying to do," the voice said, "I'm not getting the door. I'm going to jump."

"I'm going to have to break this door down then," Jay said, "and trust me when I say I won't be the one paying for the damage."

"Yeah, well, me either, I won't be around long enough."

Jay made eye contact with Erin, and she nodded. He squared up with the door, and sent his foot thundering into it. It opened with a sharp crack, and swung back to hit the wall. He and Erin entered cautiously, anticipating any sort of retaliation from the person on the ledge.

"You called the cops?" The voice asked, and Jay could finally distinguish it as a female's.

"Honey, we are the cops." Erin said.

"Now I'm going to stick my head out the window, don't try anything." Jay said, first sticking his hands out the window, and then leaned out to see her, "Hi."

"Hi." The girl said.

Below them, the police started blocking off the street. A few officers broke through the crowd of people and rushed into the building.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Auditioning for a spy movie." He said, hoping to make the situation lighter. The woman was no older than himself, her small frame pinned against the wall. Her long, dark hair rustled in the breeze, and her soft face was frozen in fear, "But I can tell you, this isn't the best way to do it." He stuck his hand out and said, "My name is Jay Halstead, what's yours?"

She eyed his hand until he dropped it, and said, "Don't even try to talk me down, I'm not coming."

"Oh I'm not." He said, making her look at him in confusion, "I'm just keeping you company."

"Well I don't want your company." She snapped, "Go away."

"Well you don't want to die alone, do you?" He asked.

She swallowed, "I'm perfectly fine with that."

"Well either way, I'm not leaving." Jay said, "If you want me to, you'll have to make me. Why do you want to jump anyway, there's easier ways to do it you know."

"Oh so you're giving me advice on how to kill myself?"

He shrugged, "All I'm saying is that there's less dramatic ways to go. You could take a bunch of pills, that would be less messy."

"Well thanks for the input, but I made up my mind."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"What question?" She asked.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Cassia."

"Cassia? That's a cool name." Jay said, "Listen, Cassia, can you tell me something?"

"What?" She asked, watching all the people below them gathering into a crowd.

"Why are you here? What's a pretty girl like you doing on a ledge about to jump? You've got your whole life ahead of you." Jay said.

"You wouldn't understand." Cassia sighed, shaking her head, "No one understands."

"Try me."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I don't want to see you end your life knowing there's so much more out there for you. You may not see it now, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. There's people out there who care for you, why would you want to leave them?" Jay asked.

Cassia shook her head, "No, there's no one left. They're all gone."

"Your family?"

She nodded.

Behind him, a group of police officers entered the room, and Erin rushed to update them on the situation. He took a deep breath and leaned back out of the window, "What about friends, everyone has friends."

"I thought I did." She said, "But they set me up."

He frowned, "What do you mean set you up?"

Cassia shook her head, "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does matter, Cassia," he said, having learned that the more you say a person's name, the more they calm down, "if you're in trouble, I can help you."

"Nobody can help me."

"It might look like that now, but trust me, I can and I will help you." He held out his hand, "Just give me a chance."

"Detective." One of the officers called, and he peeked over his arm to see the officer motioning for him to come into the room.

"Come on Cassia." He said gently, keeping his hand raised.

She stared at it, and for a moment he thought she was going to come back with him, but she took one step away from him and said, "You can't help me."

"I'm going inside real quick, okay? I'll be right back." Jay said, and quickly ducked his head inside the room to approach the officer.

"Ray Brown," he said, shaking Jay's hand, "you did a good job distracting her, thank you for that. My team will take it from here."

"Sir, please." Jay said, "I know I'm no negotiator, but I think I'm getting somewhere with her. Let me keep talking to her."

"With all due respect, detective, my men are trained for this sort of situation." Ray said, hooking his thumbs in his belt.

"I know, I know they are." Jay said, "All I'm asking is for a couple more minutes with her."

"Sir," Erin spoke up, "I'm also not specialized in this sort of thing, but one thing I learned is that the person who begins the negotiation should be the one to finish. I think Detective Halstead has made a connection with her." She paused and winked, "And if there's one person I know that could make someone come inside just to get him to stop talking, it's him."

Ray stroked his mustache and sighed, "Fine, I'll give you a couple more minutes with her. I want you to wear this microphone so we're able to hear what she says." he said, holding up a wire. After being fit with the wire, he said, "Thank you, sir." and popped his head back out the window, "Hello again."

Cassia threw him an aggravated glance and said, "Hello."

"Listen, they're threatening to send someone else back out here to talk to you." Jay said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder, "If you don't come back inside with me, there's going to be a much less appealing person out here. Probably a guy with a mustache."

"I don't like mustaches." She breathed.

"See, that's why you should come back in with me." After a moment of silence, he said, "Back to our last conversation, what kind of trouble are you in?"

"I owe money to some people." She said quietly.

"Bad people?"

"I wouldn't be here if they were nice."

Jay shot Erin, who was standing just behind him, a glance. She frowned and put a hand to her mouth, starting to pace. He turned his gaze back on Cassia, "Listen, we can help you with that."

She shook her head, "No you don't understand, they'll kill me."

"Oh trust me, I understand." He said, "I'm a detective, I deal with this sort of thing all the time. Who's threatening you?"

"I can't tell you."

"You do know who my boss is, right?" He asked, "Voight? He'll kick ass before he lets anyone hurt you, and I'll be right behind him."

"I'm scared." She whispered, "I don't want to die."

"Then what are you doing up here?" He asked softly.

"I didn't know what to do." She said, wiping tears as they spilled from her eyes.

"Cassia, I will personally make sure that nothing happens to you." Jay said, holding her gaze, "Okay? I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Why do you care?"

"Because the people you owe money to, are the people that made me realize why I wanted to be a cop. They think they can get away with things and not suffer consequences. I'm trying to put them behind bars but I can't without hard evidence. You're my evidence, Cassia. With your help I can make sure these guys won't hurt you, or anyone else for that matter." Jay said. Behind him, Voight finally arrived and said, "Let me talk to her."

Jay started ducking inside, but Cassia called out to him. He looked back out to her, and she swallowed, "I'll be safe?"

Voight backed off, and stood next to Erin to listen to the conversation.

He nodded, "We can get you into Witness Protection, they're really great to work with."

She shook her head, "No, no witness protection program will be able to keep me. They have eyes on me everywhere."

"We'll figure something out, I promise. I will personally be with you every step of the way, you don't have to be alone." He said, and for the third time, held out his hand, "Just take my hand."

"Do it!" Someone from the crowd shouted, "Take his hand!" A murmur swept over the crowd as they agreed with the speaker.

"Cassia, I promise I will protect you." Jay said.

"Cassia," Voight shouted from inside the room, "this is Sergeant Hank Voight, head of the Intelligence Unit. The man you're talking to now is one of the best detectives I've ever had to work with. If there's anyone who can bring those men in, it's him."

"Listen to them, Cassia." Erin called, "I'm Jay's partner, Erin, I can help you too. There are people that are willing to fight for you. You're not alone."

"Take my hand Cassia." Jay said gently.

She took a small step toward him, and then another, when suddenly a shot rang out. The crowd screamed and simultaneously ducked their heads, and above them a bullet sliced into the building just in front of Cassia's face. She screamed and shrank down, one of her feet slipping off of the ledge. She lost her balance and tumbled off of the building. Jay lunged forward out the window, Voight and Erin grabbing him around the waist. He caught hold of the sleeve of her jacket, and held on for dear life. Both of her arms slipped out of the jacket, but she somehow managed to cling to one of the sleeves.

Below them, five police officers were holding down a man, undoubtedly the shooter. The crowd hadn't fled like most did, but were watching with wide eyes and covered mouths as Jay tried to grab for Cassia's hand. There was a tearing noise, and Cassia shouted, "It's ripping, Jay!"

"Hold on." Jay said coolly, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, "Can you reach my hand?"

She shook her head, "I don't want to let go."

"Just reach up." Jay said, "I won't let you fall."

With a shaking hand, she reached toward him, and with a stretch he managed to grab hold of her hand just as the sleeve of her jacket ripped and fell toward the crowd, who cried out in fear. "I've got you." Jay said, catching her other hand.

"Don't let go." Cassia whispered.

Erin and Voight dug their feet into the floor and pulled Jay back into the room. Once inside, he hooked his right arm around Cassia's waist and pulled her into the room along with him. Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she sat up, and Jay wrapped his arms around her. Someone handed him a blanket, and her put it around her shoulders.

Outside, the crowd was cheering, and Erin breathed a sigh of relief.

Jay rubbed Cassia's shoulders, "It's going to be okay now, you're safe." He met Voight's eyes and the sergeant nodded. "It's going to be okay." He whispered again.

_** And so begins my next story! Disclaimer: I don't own Chicago Fire, or Chicago P.D., nor any of the characters except for those you don't know, because if I owned Halstead, lordy I'd be one happy gal! **_

_** I totes love Jay and Erin, like I totally ship their characters 100%, but I got this idea in my head when I was in my Evidence Collection and Preservation class, and I really wanted to explore it. So tell me what you all think! **_


	2. Chapter 2

Cassia crossed her legs, her bare skin sticking to the chair she sat in in the interrogation room one of the police officers had dumped her in. She looked around nervously, chewing the skin off of her lips. She should have just done it, why didn't she? Once he knew she was at the police station he would assume that she was talking to the cops. She was as good as dead.

The door opened and in walked the nice man who had talked to her when she was standing on the ledge. Jay was his name. For the first time since she'd arrived, she felt less afraid.

He closed the door and smiled as he sat down across from her, folding his hands, "So we meet again."

"I think you might have been going somewhere when you said I was auditioning for a spy movie." She looked around at the room, "Now I'm sitting in here. I've never even been to a cop shop in my entire life."

He chuckled, making the dimples on his face darken, "A cop shop? Never heard that one before."

She fidgeted with the sleeve of her shirt, "What's going to happen to me?"

Jay's face softened, "We're going to do everything we can to bring this guy down, but the only way we can do that is to know who this guy is."

She sighed, "I can't. I can't tell you."

"Cassia, if you don't give me something they're going to make me put you back out on the street without any protection whatsoever. I need something, _anything._" He said, his eyes pleading with her.

For the first time in her life she actually felt like he wanted to help her. She'd never had anyone who cared about her before. Her father had left, her mother died of a heroin overdose, and she had been an only child. She joined up with his organization because he'd been the first guy to glance at her. She thought she would be his girl like in the gangster movies, but only ended up being one girl in a line of many.

She looked down at the chrome table, watching his reflection in it. He was only looking at her. She looked up and met his gaze, "If I tell you, he'll know."

"Yeah, he will." His eyes hardened, "And he'll also know that he can't touch you as long as I'm breathing."

She laughed without humor, "Why are you doing this? You don't even know me."

"You're wrong." He said quietly, "I know you all too well."

She frowned, "I've never met you before."

"But I've met you. Tens of times." He leaned back in his chair, "Young, beautiful, your whole life ahead of you. But someone comes along and makes you think that you're nothing, that you have no place in the world, and so you feel like it will be better off without you. Trust me, Cassia, I've met you more times than I would like to. I've never actually talked with them myself, I've just caught glimpses of them. I've seen them die. I've investigated their suicides. You're the first person I've gotten to interact with, I guess that kind of makes me more motivated to make sure you're safe."

"Yeah, well you're the first one who's ever wanted that for me." She said, unfolding her legs to sit on top of her hands to keep them from shaking.

"Why can't you tell me who this guy is? Witness protection has already gotten the heads up about you. They're called that for a reason."

She shook her head, "No, you really don't understand. He probably already knows I'm here, the minute I step outside of this place I'll get a bullet to the head. He has men everywhere, they might not find me right away, but they will find me. I'm not safe anywhere. Not even here."

"Why does he want you dead so bad?"

"I may have only been only one of his many girls, but he trusted me. He told me a lot of information when we'd sleep together. I betrayed him by coming here, and for that he'll kill me." She felt frightened tears pool in her eyes.

"You said you owed him money." Jay said, the lines on his forehead growing.

"I do." She sniffed, "He gave me it to get out of prostitution."

"You did that?"

She nodded shamefully, "Please don't judge me. I had nothing, I needed something to get me on my feet. I know I could have gotten a real job, and I tried, but no one wanted me."

"I'm not judging you." He said softly, "I'll never judge you. What I will do is tell you that you should have come to us. We can help you."

"Don't say that." She scoffed, "The cops don't do anything but make it worse."

Hurt flashed across his face, "All I'm trying to do is help you, Cassia, why won't you let me?"

There was a knock at the door and the man she recognized as Voight poked his head in, "I need to talk to you." He said to Jay.

Jay stood up and asked, "Do you want any coffee? I'd offer you something else, but apparently we don't drink anything else around here."

"I'm fine." She said, and watched him leave.

She wanted nothing more than to trust him. She wanted to believe that if she told Jay who he was, he would be able to put him behind bars. But she was afraid. She was afraid of telling Jay because if he went too far, he would kill him.

She sat there for ten minutes before Jay slipped back into the room. He sat a cup of coffee in front of her, along with a doughnut. He sat down with a smug expression, "Stereotypical, I know."

She took a sip of coffee and said, "Thank you."

"What is it going to take to make you tell me?" Jay asked, "A safe place to live until we can get a secure location for you?"  
"I told you there isn't-"

"My place." He said bluntly.

"Excuse me?"

"Voight's gotten the green light from the higher-ups to let you stay with me until we can figure something out." Jay leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, "What do you say?"

She opened and closed her mouth several times before saying, "I can't bring you into the middle of this."

"Oh I'm already there." He smiled excitedly, "This is what I live for! Come on, what do you say? I'm not a very good cook, I'll admit it, but one thing I'm good at is dialing numbers on the phone to order a pizza. I've got Netflix. I have a gaming system if you're into that sort of thing. Studio apartment with a great view. I'll even let you have a small animal. Snakes, spiders, and other reptiles excluded. There'll be 24/7 surveillance, so you don't have to worry."

"You would do that?"

"I was the one who suggested it to Voight." He said, crossing his arms.

"You really don't care?" She asked, "You would do this for a lousy girl off the streets that you just met?"

"Of course. I joined this profession for that reason."

The look in his eyes gave her hope. For the first time in a long time she didn't feel afraid. She swallowed, "His name is Sonny Pencala."

Jay frowned, "I've heard of him, but I've never had to deal with him before."

"He's always careful about what he does. He's been behind several deals but only certain people know it, and they'll die before they give him away." She said.

"Sonny Pencala." Jay said slowly, "You mean the guy that holds fundraisers all the time for the children's hospital?"

"That's him."

"He'll be hard to bring down." Jay said, half to himself, "But no one is perfect. He had to have slipped up somewhere." And then he half slapped himself in the forehead and looked at Cassia, "Duh, you!"

"But who's going to believe me?" She asked, "I'm a has-been prostitute who was just his toy to fuck whenever he wanted."

"We'll think of something." Jay said, smiling, "We always do."

_**I'm so sorry for this big of delay guys. I kind of lost faith in the story even though it was the first chapter, because I stopped watching Chicago P.D. For the longest time. But I'm back now, and have a solid story line in place, so don't hate me! **_

_** And also a big THANK YOU for so many reviews, favs, and follows. I mean I know it's almost been a year since I posted the first chapter, but 18 reviews for the first chapter is pretty good no matter what. You guys rock! I love you! **_


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